Sprekelia formosissima

[Paul T]

They just grow outside here.  I take it by your reaction that they aren't supposed to tolerate the cold?

[Maggi Young]

I, for one, had no notion they might take that much frost, Paul! 

[Paul T]

Well don't tell mine that then.... please!  I've grown them for something like 20 years now.  Never been a problem wherever I have grown them.  I guess where they've been isn't usually out in the total open, so it isn't maximum cold, but then again I have also had them in pots which would have magnified the cold around the bulbs anyway.  Either way, they grow and flower here without a problem.  Or.... we have a strain here that has been conditioned over time to take the cold?  I have enough to share if needed.

[fermi de Sousa]

Likewise, Paul,
ours grow in the open garden but only started flowering when I moved them to where they get water over the summer.
They've survived at least -7^oC here and are fully exposed to the elements.
cheers
fermi

[gote]

Paul,
When you grow them in the open ground, how deep do they sit and how deep does frost penetrate into your ground. I assume the frost comes when they are dormant.
Göte

[Paul T]

Bulbs sit at the surface with the neck pretty much exposed (that is how they naturally end up if you leave them to themselves). Can't recall when they go dormant, but will check and see what last week's -6'C did to the existing leaves.

[Brian Ellis]

...but would they survive our wet and cold I wonder, I keep them in the greenhouse over the winter, where I forget about them, and invariably start them off far too late!

[Rogan]

A hybrid with an unknown Hippeastrum cultivar. This very 'worthy' plant I grew from seed many years ago, but it seldom flowers.

[David Nicholson]

I bought two bulbs of Sprekelia formosissima in November 2007 and so far haven't been able to get them to flower. Last year I had good leaf growth but no flowers and Luit advised me to let them dry them off after September under the greenhouse bench and to re-commence watering during March. This I did and again some good leaf growth (see pic) but no flowering stems at all. Now, our last two summers haven't been the best (and that's putting it mildly!) but I wonder if I'm wasting my time trying with these. Does anyone in UK succeed with them?

[Maggi Young]

Have you given them any food, David?

I am thinking, of course, of regular applications of sulphate of potash..... that staple of all plantlife in  our household!!

[David Nicholson]

Yes I did Maggi, last year and this.

[Maggi Young]

Yes I did Maggi, last year and this.

 Hmmmmmmmm....... well, on to the chips and chocolate then.........

[mark smyth]

I saw a good potful in Scotland this summer

[David Nicholson]

Oh well, that's in the banana belt

[Alessandro.marinello]

David your Sprekelia does not bloom because too much small, since is easy to find in commerce, you had to take a bulb mature